A ray of Vrindavan sun lights up Kolkata's rainy Pujo

A ray of Vrindavan sun lights up Kolkata's rainy Pujo

Once, their presence at an auspicious ceremony was unimaginable as they were believed to bring bad luck to the festivities.

Today, thanks to an NGO and some Durga Puja organisers in Kolkata, widows from an ashram in Vrindavan will spend the most special Pujo of their lives, in a rain-swept city with a large heart, discovers Indrani Roy.

Amidst the din, in a quiet corner, sits Lolita Adhikari -- no less than 107 years old -- clad in a white dhoti, folded-up knees caressing her wrinkled chin.

Mostly wheelchair-bound these days, she is hard of hearing and cannot speak much. She has had a cataract operation only a week ago.

From behind a pair of dark surgery glasses, her eyes intensely observes what her friends from the ashram are up to.

"Her son had come to the airport and begged her to visit their home in Kolkata," says Vinita Verma who has coordinated the visit of 50 widows from Vrindavan to attend the Durga Pujo festival in Kolkata.

"But she got angry and made it very clear that she would love to spend Durga Pujo with her friends from the ashram. This is but natural for someone who has spent more than 50 years at a Vrindavan ashram."

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Image: Lolita Adhikari has spent over half a century at a Vrindavan asham.Photographs: Dipak Chakraborty

A ray of Vrindavan sun lights up Kolkata's rainy Pujo

Taking a cue from Jodhpur Park, organisers at the Salt Lake FE block and Hindustan Park pandals have also invited the widows to grace their Pujo pandals during the festivities.

At a south Kolkata guest house on Monday, coordinator Vinita Verma guides us to one of the rooms. There, a group is busy making post-breakfast preparations for a press conference scheduled for that afternoon. Each discussion is punctuated by an intoxicating chorus of Radhe Radhe .

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Image: A member of the ashram holds an idol of Lord Gopal.Photographs: Dipak Chakraborty

A ray of Vrindavan sun lights up Kolkata's rainy Pujo

Basana Dasi got a degree in homeopathy at a Bangladesh college before political disturbances forced her to cross the border.

Kunjaleela heard about her from acquaintances and got her to Vrindavan.

Basana Dasi is now the ashram's resident 'doctor'. "She is good with medicines and they are very effective treating minor ailments," says Kunjaleela. Unlike the other ashramites, both Kunjaleela Dasi and Basana Dasi have not been married.

A ray of Vrindavan sun lights up Kolkata's rainy Pujo

Nilima Datta lost her husband when she was just 19. She has an elder sister in South Dinajpur whom she visits once a year.

"My husband worked in the railways. I made arrangements so that my brother-in-law's son could get the railway job after my husband's death, but my in-laws did not want to take care of me. I was left with no option but to head for Vrindavan."

"Thank God I made that choice. Though life was extremely tortuous initially, I am in great comfort and peace now. May God bless Pathakji," she says.

The widows of Vrindavan used to lead a miserable life till Sulabh International and its founder Bindeshwar Pathak stepped in after the Supreme Court directed the National Legal Service Authority last year to seek Sulabh's help to ensure the widows's proper rehabilitation.

Sulabh ensures that the women get a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 and has also arranged for healthcare and recreation facilities for them.

Sulabh International now takes care of over 1,000 widows in Vrindavan and Varanasi, besides supporting widows of this year's Uttarakhand disaster.